Beaverhead Rock, recognized
by Sacagawea from her childhood, proved very helpful to
the Lewis and Clark Expedition, for it meant her people,
the Shoshones, were nearbyNational Park Service photo, courtesy of Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site

Sacagawea created much excitement on August 8, 1805, when she recognized Beaverhead Rock in the distance as the area in which her people, the Shoshones, had been when she was kidnapped as a child several years earlier. Lewis remembered in his journal:

. . . The Indian woman recognized the point of a high plain
to our right which she informed us was not very distant from
the summer retreat of her nation on a river beyond the mountains
which runs to the west. this hill she says her nation calls
the beaver's head from a conceived re[se]mblance of it's figure
to the head of that animal. she assures us that we shall either
find her people on this river or on the river immediately west
of it's source; which from it's present size cannot be distant.
as it is now all important with us to meet with those people
as soon as possible I determined to proceed tomorrow with a
small party to the source of the principal stream of this river
and pass the mountains to the Columbia; and down that river
untill I found the Indians; in short it is my resolution to
find them or some others, who have horses if it should cause
me a trip of one month. for without horses we shall be obliged
to leave a great part of our stores, of which, it appears to
me that we have a stock already sufficiently small for the length
of the voyage before us . . . (DeVoto 1997, 181-182)

Long distance view and historic
image of Beaverhead RockColor photo courtesy of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest, Historic photo photographer unknown

With Beaverhead Rock as their landmark, the explorers were confident
they would soon find the Shoshone Indians. Lewis, Drouillard,
John Shields and Hugh McNeal set out for Beaverhead Rock over
land on August 9, 1805, to find the Shoshones while Clark and
the rest of the men continued down the river. Contact between
the Americans and Shoshone Indians was made three days later when
Lewis stumbled upon an old Shoshone woman and two teenage girls.
They were soon met by a party of 60 warriors on horseback led
by Chief Cameahwait. After exchanging trinkets and signs of peace,
the explorers set up camp with the Indians on the banks of the
Lemhi River to await Clark and his companions. Throughout the
next few days, Lewis learned much from Chief Cameahwait, most
importantly that "he had understood from the persed nosed [Nez
Perce] Indians who inhabit this river below the rocky mountains
that it ran a great way toward the setting sun and finally lost
itself in a great lake of water which was illy taisted" (DeVoto
1997, 211). Historian Stephen Ambrose explained the significance
of this information: "For the first time, a white man had a map,
however imperfect and imprecise, to connect the great rivers of
the western empire."

Clark and his party arrived shortly after on August 17, 1805,
after days of difficult navigation down the river; it was during
this time that Clark stopped to make observations on the outcropping
now known as Clark's Lookout. The arrival
of Clark and the others was filled with excitement as Sacagawea
suddenly recognized Chief Cameahwait as her brother and "instantly
jummped up, and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her
blanket and weeping profusely" (DeVoto 1997, 203). Chief Cameahwait
and the Shoshone Indians traded with the explorers, supplying
them with the horses necessary to continue. Sacagawea's ability
to recognize Beaverhead Rock and direct the explorers to her
people proved to be immensely helpful in the journey to the
Pacific Ocean.

Beaverhead Rock is 14 miles northeast of Dillon, Montana.
The Beaverhead Rock State Park is open to the public year-round,
free of charge. The site itself can be viewed and photographed
from a distance, but is not directly accessible. Please call
406-834-3413, or visit the park's website
for further information.